Sealtest dominated the 50s and early 60s. It was considered a quality brand, if not the quality brand.

I lived a rural life then and had a local dairy just down the street. I could get ice cream produced from cows I knew personally and by name. Of course as creatures of the 50s my family also bought Sealtest.

We preferred the local dairy by a long shot, but what did we know? The ice cream was dense with cream and ostentatious with riotous flavors.

To us Sealtest was a revelation; a really refined national product that was more than likely a product of modern science as well. It was light and full of air, certainly a mark of a rarefied product. It's flavor was subtle, hardly noticeable. It was a true modern wonder.

We were country folk, however and persisted in buying from the local dairy just out of blind loyalty. I do hope we were not responsible for putting Sealtest out of business though. Somehow, our local densely cream laden, highly flavored ice cream has survived and I enjoy it every time I make it back to the old home town.

When I was very young and that was many years ago, Sealtest sponsered a TV program "Under the Big Top" every Saturday and I never missed it. This was in the early 50's I believe. I bought their product because of that. I have not seen their ice cream in a long time.

I most remember their "Checkerboard" half gallons. The chocolate and vanilla were in alternating little squares of about 1 cubic inch each. They may even have had strawberry too. Haven't seen anyone else do that, but then I don't buy much supermarket ice cream anymore -- only Ben & Jerry's Pistachio.

Well, I was exuberant thinking I'd found the history of the St Louis Sign I loved so well, (+ the company), but then I saw "Demolition 1992", and yeow, is THAT terrible. http://www.umsl.edu/~virtualstl/phase2/1950/buildings/sealtestfoods.html

Sealtest was the only major competition for Carnation Dairy products (esp. ice cream)in those distant days of history(in SoCal). Sealtest did a lot of school lunch dairy stuff. We had Carnation Home Delivery of milk. Sav-On Drugs had Carnation ice cream for years before the Thrifty Drug chain got ahold of the 'front-counter' ice cream cone department. The change took place while I was away..some time after 1963, but before 1980. I used to love the hand-dipped cones (5 cents for a single...10 cents for a double dip). Thrify (Now Rite-Aid) still does some great ice cream cone business- but the price is in "New" dollars. I haven't seen a Sealtest label for years.

I most remember their "Checkerboard" half gallons. The chocolate and vanilla were in alternating little squares of about 1 cubic inch each. They may even have had strawberry too. Haven't seen anyone else do that, but then I don't buy much supermarket ice cream anymore -- only Ben & Jerry's Pistachio.

Here in New England, Hood does that with their ice cream. They call it "Patchwork." It was my mother's favorite, and any time I buy it, I tell my kids I'm getting it in honor of Nana. I think for a while they also did it with vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet, but I haven't seen that for a long time.

Back in the 50's our family went grocery shopping every Thursday evening. We always bought a half gallon of Sealtest ice cream. The great part was that we had to eat the entire half gallon as soon as we got home because the freezer we had was too small for the box. Tough luck!

Sealtest was the only major competition for Carnation Dairy products (esp. ice cream)in those distant days of history(in SoCal). Sealtest did a lot of school lunch dairy stuff. We had Carnation Home Delivery of milk. Sav-On Drugs had Carnation ice cream for years before the Thrifty Drug chain got ahold of the 'front-counter' ice cream cone department. The change took place while I was away..some time after 1963, but before 1980. I used to love the hand-dipped cones (5 cents for a single...10 cents for a double dip). Thrify (Now Rite-Aid) still does some great ice cream cone business- but the price is in "New" dollars. I haven't seen a Sealtest label for years.

Sealtest and Borden's were the two National Brands when I was a kid, in this part of Michigan and I loved them both!I heard of Carnation Ice Cream but when I asked the owners of two differernt mom and pop stores by where I lived, they told me carnation Ice wasn't a National Brand, it was a local California Brand. But, what the heck, in the 1950's, store owners could tell kids anything and get away with.

My favorite Ice Cream growing up was Sealtest Choc Chip. the last time I saw it was in the late 80's my sister was living in Michigan at the time. It had been out of stores in my area for a couple of years at that time I was there for a long weekend and ate at least a gallon of it. I was giddy.

I googled Sealtest and was not able to find out much. Apparently a company by the name of Natel has the rights in Canada except it seems that they do not do ice cream but they do a lot of other dairy products. It seems that they do not market in the USA.

It seems that everything Sealtest is for sale for people collecting antique things.

Sealtest had good ice cream back in the early 50's but the it was about all we had except Pet and I did not know any different. I thought all ice cream was good back then

I will always remember "Under the Bigtop" on Saturdays which I was only about 7-8 years old. That was 55 years ago. I sure did enjoy TV then.

The snack bar at my prep school served Sealtest ice cream. Their speciality was a "Dusty Miller." A couple scoops of french vanilla, dusted with malt powder and topped with Hershey's syrup. -- Basically a Sundae. I can' remember how many times we stopped on the way back from swim practice to grab a Dusty Miller to eat on the long walk to DINNER!!!!

I had some Breyer's Chocolate the other night that brought back memories of my childhood and Sealtest Ice Cream. I was not surprised to find after researching that both labels are owned by the same company.

My question is. . .Is this really the Sealtest recipe in the Breyers box? Can some long time Breyers taster tell me if this is the original Breyers or did my taste buds actually find Sealtest.

My grandfather use to drive/deliver for Sealtest starting as a "helper" in 1919 on a horse pulled cart until he retired in 1971 from a semi sized rig.He started with Hydrox Corp in Chicago which merged with others and became part of the National Dairy Products Corp. The Sealtest brand was created in 1935 and named after one of the companys quality control processess.

My dad drove semi truck for Sealtest for 20-some years...and we always had Sealtest ice cream at our house. All the neighbor kids came to our house, LOL. He drove out of Sealtest in Milwaukee, WI., up until they closed that plant. He always missed his job there. Yes, Breyers is spose to be today's Sealtest, but I myself don't think it is as good. I also miss the ice cream cakerolls of long past!

The show that Sealtest sponsored in the '50s was "Big Top" aka "Sealtest Big Top" and was one of my Saturday morning favorites when I was a kid. It was broadcast live from Philadelphia on CBS for ( I think ) 6 or 7 years. It was hosted by "ringmaster" Jack Sterling and the head clown was played by Ed McMahon, just a few years before he began his long association with Johnny Carson ( they first worked together on the quiz show "Who Do You Trust" in the late '50s. ) Since so many old TV shows from that period are popping up on DVD nowadays, I'm hoping that I can locate an episode or two soon.

I had some Breyer's Chocolate the other night that brought back memories of my childhood and Sealtest Ice Cream. I was not surprised to find after researching that both labels are owned by the same company.

My question is. . .Is this really the Sealtest recipe in the Breyers box? Can some long time Breyers taster tell me if this is the original Breyers or did my taste buds actually find Sealtest.

They were not the same. Sealtest was the company's "regular" brand. Breyer's was their "premium" brand. Less air; more butterfat. And real vanilla beans. Breyer's was acquired by Sealtest at some point. Also, for a long time, their distribution areas were not the same. Breyer's was more of an Eastern brand; Sealtest was more concentrated in the Mid-west.

When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, "Village Dairy" was a chain of soda fountains/convenience stores that featured Sealtest ice cream. In addition to the standard flavors, each month there was a special flavor. Choc-o-Marsh was one of the monthly specials - chocolate ice cream with a mint flavored marshmallow ribbon. If my folks brought a half gallon home, I could not stay away form it. It was usually gone within a day. I have never found anything like it, which is probably a good thing.